A Time to Tango

Mojitos and cigars abound

By Susan Stapleton August 1, 2014

Transport yourself back to the pre-JFK era of Cuba when the sultry island was a playground for the rich and famous and gangsters ran the show. Before the Cuban Revolution, Havana was the place to be and perhaps not be seen as illicit nights were filled with rum, cigars, sizzling jazz and hot tables.

The Mob Museum celebrates that brief but decadent era with Hot Havana Nights, an ode to a city that was once much like Las Vegas and people turned a blind eye to the permissive behavior there. Toast with a mojito, dance a tango or form a conga line during this fiesta, 6-10 p.m. Aug. 7. Space to Pace Cuban Latin Trio will put on the spicy jazz while you’re smoking a cigar from The Spirit of Cuba, nibbling on Cuban cuisine or playing table games.

There’s an educational background to the event, too. The Mob Museum has an entire exhibit looking back at this time when mob families based out of Chicago and New York ran Havana’s major resorts and casinos. Look for photographs from that golden era of the 1940s and ’50s and relics from some of Havana’s most infamous locales.